Have your say on looking after our beautiful green spaces - Steve Cardownie

With all its green spaces the council has an easy win in Edinburgh in the ‘20-minute’ city stakes

Then, only last week, this paper reported that the annual “Edinburgh by Numbers” report, collated by the City Council, revealed that 74 per cent of Edinburgh residents are able to enjoy local green spaces within a five- minute walk from their home and that 92 per cent of people surveyed were satisfied with the city’s local green spaces.

It is against this backdrop that the City Council has embarked on a consultation exercise titled Management Rules for Parks, Beaches and Greenspace”. Running until 11 April, it is seeking the views of residents.

The council has informed us that it plans to bring in a revised set of management rules which are to be considered by the Culture and Communities Committee when it meets on 22 April and that the committee “supports discussing changes with the public.”

The council says that “Your views will help shape the management rules that will apply to people using parks, beaches and green spaces across the city. Your comments may also identify areas where the council needs to develop new or adapt existing policies.”

The council provides a simple online questionnaire and importantly also includes a copy of the proposed management rules which outline a whole number of activities that are strictly prohibited in these spaces.

I was buttonholed by one concerned resident who questioned me on one rule in particular, which could have serious consequences for his standard of living and could affect his ability to earn an income.

The activity which has raised his hackles is covered by the rule which prohibits “engaging in any commercial activity whatsoever (including, without limitation, dog walking services, photography, filming and fitness training services.)

Being a commercial dog walker, he immediately saw the potential threat to his livelihood, fearing that the council would use this to insist that permits had to be purchased to allow dog walkers to exercise their charges in public parks.

He and other dog walkers were in the process of making their concerns known, which is exactly why this consultation process is so important. Not just for them but for all park users.

The management rules should be designed to make a visit to the park as pleasant as possible and sets out a number of prohibitive rules primarily to ensure that the minority do not spoil a park visit for the majority.

And if “a council official has reasonable grounds for believing that a person has contravened, is contravening or is about to contravene any of these management rules, they may expel that person from the park, beach or green space.”

Easier said than done, granted, but this paper has recently covered instances where anti-social activities in public parks, such as the Meadows, have cast a shadow over what should be a pleasant experience. Edinburgh’s parks and open spaces need the protection that these rules can, if effectively enforced, provide.

The survey and draft rules can be found on the council’s Consultation Hub web site.